Scarlet Christmas
by Katieisawesome
Summary: Selena hates Winter with an undying passion; it's cold, and she has to waste her hard-earned money on the ungrateful townsfolk! But could she be given a new perspective by the most unlikely of families?


**A/N: This is my Secret Santa Gift for Mage the Observer! Hope you like it, though I have a little complaint. WHY DID YOU PEOPLE GIVE ME MAGE THE OBSERVER ON MY FIRST YEAR? THAT'S NOT FAIR! Just kidding. Merry Christmas to all!**

Selena ran a manicured nail dramatically through her wetted, thick scarlet locks, the wetness coming from none other than those blasted falling drops of white that she hated so much.

It was Christmas, a time of joy and comfort, though to the twenty year old female it was simply a nightmare of a holiday. Between the chilliness that all but froze her solid, and the hard-earned money she was forced to waste on the ungrateful people of Castanet, Selena would rather live under a rock for the season of Winter.

But alas, Selena lived by the motto, 'Children should be seen and not heard' all through her life, even though she was far too old to be considered a child, so she was forced to keep her anger subdued throughout all of the townsfolk's 'spreading of Christmas cheer', which was actually just villagers blabbering about what they were getting from the fat man in red.

Selena was currently trudging through one of the many the piles of snow that littered the ground, her flip-flops (which were, needless to say, unfit for any kind of weather other than warm Summer days on the beach) sinking into said piles like quick sand. She was heading for town, though not for a particular reason; something compelled her to go there, and, against her better judgement, she departed from her home and began the walk.

Upon arriving, she immediately took note of the random assortment of Christmas lights strewn across the houses and lamp posts, probably put up as per request from Mayor Hamilton.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted when a familiar high-pitched voice shrieked a shrill, "Hey, SELENA!"

Before Selena could even begin to react to the ear-piercing noise, she was forcefully pushed to the ground by an unknown figure charging at light-speed, wearing an easily recognizable pink, maid-esque outfit.

"SORRY, SORRY! I'm really, like, really sorry! Please don't hate me, I didn't mean it!", the figure exclaimed apologetically, shoving a gloved hand out in front of the clearly frustrated Selena.

"Don't worry, Maya. Merry Christmas and all that, now I'll be on my way." Selena replied nonchalantly, refusing the hand of the figure (whose name was Maya, apparently) by simply picking herself up and walking away.

Of course, Maya wouldn't let her leave that easy, running to catch up with Selena with much ease due to her appropriate footwear, compared to Selena's summertime flip-flops.

"Let me make it up to you, please, please! Momma said that I could invite one persdinner have Christmas dinner with us, and I need to be a good person because Santa Claus is watching! Oh, pretty please with a banana on top?" Maya begged, now almost sprinting to keep up with the rushing girl, who was visibly confused by the naivety of the last sentence.

"Sure, Maya." Selena mumbled, having given up hope of getting out of it as soon as Maya uttered the first 'please', knowing full well that Maya had no intention of letting Selena take away a free chance to get on Santa's 'nice list'.

"YAY! Come to the Ocarina Inn at 6:00 and we'll have yummy dinner! Momma said it's gonna be real good, so don't eat before you come!" She inaudibly mumbled before dashing off to probably tell the whole town, or talk an unfortunate towns person of choice's ear off.

Selena sighed outwardly as she went over what had just happened, her optimistic sides telling her that it would be nice to eat a home-cooked meal whereas the pessimistic side had thoughts that would make children have nightmares.

Feeling confused to the point beyond return, Selena turned on her heel and jogged back to the protection of her house, the only place she wanted to be for a _long_ time. Without any real thing to do until six o'clock, Selena twiddled her thumbs and aimlessly wandered around her less-than-expansive home.

When the time finally came for Selena to leave, she thought of a whole bunch of excuses, before finally accepting her fate.

"It can't be too bad, right? Just dinner and I leave, right?" She asked her reflection in the mirror, and waited as if the reflection were going to say something that would help her through the toughest of life's problems. Of course, it didn't, a because if it did than that would make a much more interesting story, and I wouldn't be writing this one.

Anyways, Selena grabbed her scarlet purse filled with basic necessities (a hairbrush and pepper spray, in case you were curious), and locked the rickety oak door of her home, which probably wouldn't stop a burglar because it could easily come off it's hinges and fall off. Of course, the falling door would probably crush the potential burglar and eliminate any harm, but that's not the point.

So within five minutes, Selena was opening the much grander door to Ocarina Innbrand was surprised by the instant welcoming by Coleen, Maya's mother,

"Welcome! Merry Christmas to you, Selena!"

Jake nodded at her in acknowledgement and headed towards a fancily decorated table that Selena guessed Coleen made up just for Christmas dinner, sitting down and pulling out the two chairs next to him for his wife and mother-in-law. Maya and Yolanda were in the kitchen, most likely with Yolanda's apprentice Chase, leaving Selena awkwardly standing by the door.

Coleen laughed warmly at Selena's hesitance, gesturing towards the chair at the head of the table before sweetly reassuring, "Don't worry, Selena, we don't bite."

_Perhaps this won't be as bad as I thought,_ she smiled ever-so-slightly, having been reminded of all the times she ate dinner with her own family; something that she liked, very much so.

Selena pulled out her chair as Maya shakily carried the plates of food to the table, her lips clearly having been licked at the food at least once. Yolanda and Chase followed shortly after, with Yolanda sitting down in the chair Jake had pulled out for her, leaving Chase sitting next to Maya, much to his dismay.

"Welp, eat while it's hot, everyone!" Yolanda announced with a chuckle, after which everybody shoveled mouthfuls after mouthfuls of food into their, well mouths, excluding Selena. She simply smiled at the family, a thought dawning on her so cliché it almost made her gag; _Christmas is a time for joy and comfort, and those two things can easily be attained by being around people you love._


End file.
